"The 19th Wife"

This cover caught my eye at Costco about six months ago. When I picked it up and saw that the book was about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young, and polygamy, I put it right down. As a member of the Church, I really didn't want to read any "anti-Mormon" literature and feel the need to be defensive.

At the library last week, I picked up the book and took a more extensive look at it. It appeared to be more about polygamy than about the Church, and it also seemed to take a fair approach, so I thought I would try it.

The 19th Wife weaves together two fictional stories--one historical and one modern. Ann Eliza Webb was the 19th wife of Brigham Young in the polygamous society of the early days of the LDS Church in Utah. The book tells of her life from birth to death with an emphasis on her time with Brigham Young and what happened when she divorced him and denounced polygamy. The parallel story involves Jordan Scott, son of the 19th wife of a well-known polygamy fundamentalist, who is cast out of his community and later defends his mother when she is accused of shooting his father.

While Jordan's story is weak and predictable, Ann Eliza's story is fascinating. Based on her memoir, Ann Eliza tells of the Saints' migration west and of her own life in Utah and eventual marriage to Brigham Young. She is obviously bitter towards the Prophet, but the author balances her anger with other more positive views of Brigham Young.

This is the type of book that might try my faith or make me question my religion but instead I understand that any church leader in any religion is merely a mortal interpreting God's will. All we need to do is to look around us now, and we see many examples of how fame and power can corrupt a man (Tiger Woods, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, etc.) To me, polygamy was on trial in this book, rather than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and there is no doubt that polygamy can be a destructive institution.